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As we drove through the streets of Chiang Mai, the second city of Thailand, we were surprised at how smoggy it was. I don't really understand why it is like this although probably it's a combination of pollution, heat haze, and the continuous fire setting in surrounding forests. Still, the city was lovely, we based ourselves inside the old moated area which seemed to be a maze of nice back lanes filled with
beautiful temples, tasty restaurants, and friendly faces.
The first hotel we stayed at was called Ping Buri and was spacious, stylish and conveniently close to the main hospital. Lewi and I took the opportunity to have our persistently upset stomachs looked at. At
our follow up examination the next day the hospital staff were preparing for an afternoon Songkran party: dressed in their formal best, a huge spread of food laid out and the music system being warmed up, it was funny to say the least. But this didn't stop them from being extremely efficient and within an hour we had results. No nasty parasites thank goodness and we were just advised to take antibiotics...again.
Our hospital chores attended to Lew and I joined everyone else
in moving to MD house a popular hostel with a swimming pool and blissfully air conditioned rooms. That afternoon we took a swangthaew (or swanger as Harri calls them) to Wat Doi Suthep; a collection of gilded temple buildings, a monastery and meditation school, perched atop a hillside overlooking the whole valley in which Chiang Mai sits.
It was a beautiful spot and we were privileged enough to observe a family conducting their holy rituals of pouring water over the Buddha image, lighting incense and receiving blessings from an elderly monk. It felt special to witness this. We strolled around the hilltop for a while, watched a group of local hill tribe girls perform some traditional dance and just before sunset we braved the knee aching 300 steps down.
The next day we made full usage of the gorgeous swimming pool and sunny weather and planned for a busy day tomorrow. Chiang Mai appears to be a Mecca for vegetarianism and so far we've eaten at a great selection of restaurants, this evening being no exception. Aroon Rai, an Ally recommendation, was very much enjoyed by everyone.
Up early for our action packed day we met by the
sparkling pool at 8am. Our tour guide Jimmy herded us into the minibus and off we went. The first stop was an orchid and butterfly farm both fauna and flora
were very beautiful but sadly there weren't many butterflies to see, as during the heat of dry season they struggle to survive. Further outside of the city we came to an Elephant camp and glancing across a
long shaky-looking suspension bridge we could see five magnificent elephants including one baby. Before we hopped on we took a leisurely float down river on a slowly sinking bamboo raft, with stray dogs and huge spiders accompanying us. It was a very relaxing way to travel.
Back with the elephants Lewi the veteran rider climbed aboard first and raja-like he led the way. Jessie and I excitedly and cautiously clambered on next, followed by Harri & Flo and bringing up the rear Mum and Gordon. Well, what an experience, lumbering along, swaying from side to side, and looking down from such a height...it's an amazing and very different way to travel. The elephants themselves were such gentle and majestic creatures and we all ooh'd over the two adorable young babies. None of
us could stop smiling, especially when we were feeding them bananas and I had a bristly wet trunk slobbered
all over my arm. And to top off the brilliant action packed day we finished with whitewater rafting. It was a slightly tricky affair what with it being the dry season and the river having such low water levels but still so funny. The raft would get wedged between the rocks and we'd all have to bounce the raft and lean over to one side, which resulted in us sliding all over the place and me slipping out of the raft altogether! The river itself was in flatter parts full of holidaying Thais spraying us with water and offering us drinks, it was an unorthodox yet brilliant rafting trip. We were all pretty tired after all this excitement and there were a few nodding heads on the journey back to town.
That night we had a comical dinner at Archers restaurant where the British owner amused us with his tipsy banter, and hearty food. Comment of the night: "Bread is your bugger".
Chiang Mai is renowned for it's Sunday night market so the following late afternoon we went to
check it out for ourselves. It was enormous, stretching almost from one side of the walled city to the other.
Before getting stuck into browsing the jewelery, handcrafts, clothing and countless other stalls we explored two of the most beautiful temples in town. The huge Wat Phra Sing was a buzz with novice monks awaiting their commencement ceremony, the ornate building lit beautifully, and flags fluttering in the sunset sky. Wat Chedi Luang with it's understated elegance, plain stone walls and half collapsed
stupa was our favourite though. The few remaining stone elephant heads that had withstood the earthquake and years of weathering peered out from the stonework and gave it a real charm.
After this we joined the thronging crowds along Thanon Ratchadamnoen loosing sight of Flo at one point as everyone meandered along it was nearly impossible to all stay together. The market was even larger than usual this weekend as it coincided with the Songkran celebrations that officially begin tomorrow.
And so, the madness that is Songkran. Every year for three full days in mid April (and in reality the few days before and after) Chiang Mai turns into waterworld as a fun part of the
Thai new year celebrations.
The traffic that jams the streets throws water over the crowds that line the ancient moat who in turn are continuously chucking and spraying it back at them. It's the ultimate waterfight. We threw ourselves totally into this festival, bought ourselves buckets and sloshed through the flooded streets having a whale of a time, within seconds you are soaked to the skin. The use of ice water adds a whole new dimension, freezing water down your neck really takes your breath away I can tell you! Some people take things too far though, a somewhat less than sober man thought it would be hilarious to throw Flo into the moat...it wasn't. She luckily just missed her head on the rocky walls and thankfully all was well, but it gave us a shock. With this and the cold of being totally drenched kicking in, we decided to call it a day for day one Songkran and went back to the lovely Amora Hotel and watched break dancing outside our front door and warmed up with a beer or two.
The water mayhem was amazing fun but at certain points of the day you don't want to
be wet anymore and so we discovered a back exit from the hotel and stealthily snuck out to dinner.
We did of course do other things than just throw water at people for the next few days. We all had traditional Thai massages which were excellent, watched the miss Songkran beauty pageant, swam in the gorgeous Amora's pool and watched a procession of hundreds of Buddha images being carried through the streets.
All too soon it was my families last day in Thailand, and so we braved the wet journey across town to visit the excellent Chiang Mai zoo. Abounding with creatures big and small the zoo was really good but the
star of the show had to be Lin Ping, a 10 month old giant panda. Not so giant yet she was as adorable as a teddy bear. Her father was truly impressive, he was huge and sat languidly munching away at big
bundles of bamboo oblivious to the observers.
To top the day off we had a fantastic meal and then a couple of buckets of Sam Song and redbull at a neon graffitied rooftop bar, it had been a great great day with lots
of fun memories.
The two weeks that everyone had been travelling with us had gone so fast and yet we had seen such a lot and shared so many great experiences. We waved them off in their taxi and in an effort not to feel too sad I thought about Lewi's song of the holiday: "Super Soaker a wonderful Songkran time".
And it had been!
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Josho
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Chiang Mai Memories
Photos are awesome - my memories of Thailand are fondest of Chiang Mai - I loved this place- sounds like you guys did too. Awesome tales again x